About Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN

Julianna Paradisi, RN, OCN, finds inspiration where science, humanity, and art converge, creating compelling images as both a writer and a painter. She is the author of https://jparadisirn.com/, and also blogs frequently for http://www.theonc.org/ and https://ajnoffthecharts.com/, the blog of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).

The Sound of Silence: Racism in Nursing

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”   -Dr. Martin Luther King

One of the conundrums I face when writing stories from my nursing career is the question “whose story is it?” For instance, does observing an act of racism give the observer the right to tell the story of what happened to another person? Does telling the story with the intent of exposing the ugliness of racism make it okay?

by julianna paradisi

It’s February, Black History Month. How can a white woman, a registered nurse, discuss race issues in a profession in which only 7.8% of the workforce is black without sounding ignorant, or worse, racist herself? Once or twice in the past I’ve made well-intended comments that revealed my own blind spots when talking about race. Fortunately, these were brought to my attention by friends who understood my good intentions, however misguided. I’m grateful for their support, and compassion. Like learning a new language, using the right words when talking about race requires commitment, practice, and a little bit of courage.

‘Here’s the chart. Answer the man’s questions.’

Years ago, I encountered a surgeon I’d never met before who repeatedly […]

2020-02-26T09:39:39-05:00February 26th, 2020|Nursing|3 Comments

Understaffing: A Policy Oblivious to the Unforeseen Swerves of Life and Nursing Shifts

The Roads of Life and Nursing 2019 by Julianna Paradisi

Neither life nor nursing shifts develop in a linear fashion. Both roads are full of unforeseen swerves. I was reminded of this over the weekend while sitting with a relative in an emergency department. Our weekend plans had been put on hold to accommodate this unforeseen swerve in health.

An ED staff under stress.

I couldn’t help but notice the emergency department staff were experiencing their own set of unforeseen curves this particular shift. Although it was early in the evening, to my experienced nurse’s eye they were already exhausted.

When we arrived, the triage nurse was being verbally accosted by two people who’d walked in off of the street, ranting and high, until a trio of security officers intervened. Another nurse hustled between triage and the bay area. A photograph of her young daughter on the reverse side of her ID badge dangled from the lanyard around her neck. Everyone looked tired.

The tricky ambiguities around nurses calling in sick.

Once my relative was confirmed as stable, I revealed to the other nurses that I was a nurse and said I’d noticed how busy they were that […]

Former Pediatric ICU Nurse: Where Are the Smart Guns?

Stars for the dead.

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 14, 2019, I visited our local art museum to see a retrospective exhibit by a conceptual artist. Walking into the museum gallery, the first piece you encounter is an installation of several dark blue banners suspended from the ceiling. On their blue fields are embroidered white stars; lots of white stars, 14,718 in all. Each star represents a person killed in the United States by another person with a gun in 2018.

It’s a sobering statistic, but what caught my attention was the half-dozen high school students seated cross-legged on the museum floor inside the circle created by the hanging banners. They faced each other silently. None of them was texting or taking selfies, which was remarkable in itself.

I hadn’t yet heard that earlier in the day two high school students died, and several more were injured in another school shooting, this one at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Later the shooter, a student, died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

As seen in the pediatric ICU.

As a former pediatric intensive care nurse, I have personally cared for several child gunshot victims. They were nice children from nice families who happened to have loaded guns in their […]

2019-11-20T10:13:03-05:00November 20th, 2019|Nursing, Public health|1 Comment

Dia De Los Muertos: Thoughts On Life, Death, Nursing, and Time With Our Families

I discovered she died the way I typically learn a patient I’d navigated for died: the tiny abbreviation “dcsd” appeared next to her name on my computer’s patient list. Although her passing was not unexpected, I felt a deep sadness at the loss of her beautiful soul. From my desk, I sent a silent prayer of remembrance, and then another asking comfort for her family.

She was about the same age as my daughter, and like her, married to a devoted husband, the mother of young children. She was also an only child like my daughter, and feeling this connection, I grieved for her mother too. I wondered if there were things she would have done differently if she’d known their time together would be cut short.

Nursing doesn’t stop for the holidays.

Dia de Los Muertos. Illustration by Julianna Paradisi

We are entering the holiday season, and nurses begin scheduling their holidays off, and on. Not everyone will get what they desire. Perhaps it’s not coincidental that ringing in this season is the Latino celebration, Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Oct. 31-Nov. 2), which […]

2019-10-30T09:58:35-04:00October 30th, 2019|Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments

May I Hug You? Supporting Personal Boundaries in the Health Care Setting

Touch as affirmation.

Illustration by Julianna Paradisi

“May I hug you?”

My patient and I had just finished a rather lengthy conversation, the kind of authentic communication that reaffirms the humanity connecting us all—the number one reason I love being a nurse. Sitting in a chair across from me, she reached out her hand for me to shake. I sensed she felt the same connection I did, but was too shy to ask for more.

“May I hug you?” I asked.

Tears formed in her eyes as she stood and we hugged. The circle was complete.

Not everyone is comfortable being touched.

I’m a hugger. I connect easily with patients and throughout my career have given and received more spontaneous hugs than I can hope to count. Lately though, for a variety of reasons, I’ve begun to ask permission before hugging a patient.

Foremost, I’ve developed a stronger advocacy towards the right to personal boundaries. I am not you is a good thing to remember when meeting anyone for the first time, whether they are a patient, coworker, or a child. Not everyone is comfortable being touched.

‘Handshake free zones.’

A while ago, I met a new resident while visiting a patient in her hospital room. After […]

2019-07-15T10:44:45-04:00July 15th, 2019|Nursing, Patients|1 Comment
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